


Love at First Slither

by ba_lailah



Category: Original Work
Genre: Comfort Food, First Kiss, First Time, Getting Together, Marriage Proposal, Other, Tentacles, Xeno
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-07
Updated: 2020-08-07
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:06:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25442125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ba_lailah/pseuds/ba_lailah
Summary: Louie usually took his time and thought about things, but not with Bubble. With Bubble, he knew.
Relationships: Tentacle Monster/Original Character(s)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 15
Collections: Battleship 2020, Battleship 2020 - Yellow Team





	Love at First Slither

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Gammarad](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gammarad/gifts).



Louie usually took his time and thought about things, but not with Bubble. With Bubble, he knew. He'd never even considered a xeno partner, but when he saw Bubble slither up to the bar at the local brewpub (where he was already a fixture despite having only moved to town two weeks ago) and order the bitterest bitter they had on tap, something in the gleam of its oily skin sparked a deep yearning in him. He couldn't resist strolling over.

"Hey," he said, because he was suave. "You should try their chocolate stout next. Better than Guinness."

"I'm driving, so only one drink for me," Bubble said. Its large, liquid eyes sized him up. "But maybe I'll come back tomorrow night and try it then."

Louie knew how to pick up a dropped hint. The next night he was right there waiting when Bubble came in. Their eyes met. Lightning struck. It was fate.

Over pints of stout, they shared their life histories, sounded each other out on politics, and carefully both mentioned they were single. Then, having discovered a mutual love of meatloaf with mashed potatoes, they took a stroll up the road to the diner. Louie hadn't gotten around to trying the meatloaf there yet, and Bubble clearly enjoyed watching him dig into his dinner. "Oh man," Louie moaned, savoring another forkful of buttery, gravy-soaked potatoes. "These are the real thing. Not potato flakes."

"Potato flakes are anathema," Bubble said firmly. "I will die on this hill."

Louie's heart sang.

At the end of the night, Bubble offered Louie a ride home, which is how they discovered they lived in the same apartment building. Louie's apartment was on a lower floor, so Bubble escorted him to his door.

"This was amazing," Louie said. 

"It was," Bubble said. "I feel so connected to you."

"I, um." Louie squinted. "With a human, I'd ask if I could kiss you. Do you kiss?"

Bubble clacked its beak dubiously. "I could try?"

They tried. It wasn't the worst first kiss Louie had ever had. He mostly ended up planting little kisses all over Bubble's beak and face. Bubble delicately slid a tentacle-tip through his hair and over the curve of his ear, and suddenly Louie's pants were uncomfortably tight. "Hey," he breathed. "Do you want to come in?"

"On a first date?" Bubble said.

Louie stroked a hand along one of its longer, arm-like tentacles. Bubble made a squeaky sound. "Yeah," Louie said, "on a first date."

Several months later, they went out to the brewpub. When Louie drained his glass of beer, there was a ring at the bottom of it. "Did I do it right?" Bubble asked worriedly as Louie wiped it off and stared at it. It smelled of beer. It sparkled.

"You did it perfectly," Louie said. "You're perfect. This is perfect. Yes, yes, yes!"

They had a wedding cake made of chocolate "meatloaf" decorated with whipped cream "potatoes," and toasted in stout instead of Champagne. Louie's grandmother got drunk and started chanting "Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!" As the guests clinked their forks against their pint glasses, Louie smiled and chastely smooched Bubble's beak. They still hadn't really figured out kissing. But they had the rest of their lives to try.


End file.
